Eisernes Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 This is not a troll or me being a smart ass. I'm looking at controllers for my new set up and the only thing I know for sure is I do not want another RKL. The Reef Angel is about half the price as a full Apex set up with what seems like the exact same functionality. Is this a name brand thing or is there more to the Apex that I am overlooking? Link to comment
Angel<3Nanos Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Haven't used a reef angel. But my Apex is the best purchase ever. And now that Fusion is out, makes it a lot better. I can fully control my tank from anywhere. Plus Apex is coming out with a new power head and they also have that new dosing pump. Also, they are compatible with most LED brands. My money is on Apex. Link to comment
Tamberav Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 I believe reef angel has many of the same capabilities as apex but you have to be willing to edit lines of code, find the code you want on their forums, ask other users, ect. as it is open source. I believe there is a wizard now to help write the code which makes things a lot easier. I am not sure how in depth it is but probably has all the basic common things covered. The apex has coding too for some things but it is more simplified to a few lines. So I guess do you like to tinker? or more plug and play? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Reef Angel uses a Windows program that is step by step for programming. An idiot could do it Link to comment
itzju Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Going to +1 on the Apex since i own a FULL and Jr. They are constantly improving on it and the Fusion capability just hands down wins it for me. I have heard great things about Reef Angel and would probably purchase one if I hadn't gone with an Apex. Link to comment
Eisernes Posted October 21, 2014 Author Share Posted October 21, 2014 With the Apex and the WXM module is it possible to set a MP10 to run in one mode during the day and a different one at night? Link to comment
farkwar Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 With Apex and RKL/RKE you can have multiples of the same modules. Iirc, when i researched reef angel it did not support that. Downside is that you cant use one controller for multiple tanks. Or something like that. Also DA has just been bought out by some corporation. Had a new wireless controller at MACNA. Link to comment
deathbyart Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Also DA has just been bought out by some corporation. Had a new wireless controller at MACNA. Yea, I am waiting to hear more info about this. In regards to Reef Angel, it will take some setting up with a laptop. From everything I have read it's not difficult and the forum members are incredibly helpful. http://forum.reefangel.com/ Link to comment
evilc66 Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 With Apex and RKL/RKE you can have multiples of the same modules. Iirc, when i researched reef angel it did not support that. Downside is that you cant use one controller for multiple tanks. Or something like that. Also DA has just been bought out by some corporation. Had a new wireless controller at MACNA. DA is owned by Dynon Instruments. Has been for years. This hasn't changed. Link to comment
farkwar Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 DA is owned by Dynon Instruments. Has been for years. This hasn't changed. Damn, was hoping for a change in customer whatever it is they lack . Its a change of some sort. http://www.digitalaquatics.com/archon-at-macna/ Dont really see any DA branding on this new stuff, regardless of how long they have been DI. Maybe its a Nissan> Datsun> Nissan kinda thing. Link to comment
farkwar Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 The point is the same, you can run a bunch of tanks off an RKE, you need one Reef Angel per tank(last I read). Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Damn, was hoping for a change in customer whatever it is they lack . Its a change of some sort. http://www.digitalaquatics.com/archon-at-macna/ Dont really see any DA branding on this new stuff, regardless of how long they have been DI. Maybe its a Nissan> Datsun> Nissan kinda thing. That looks like they're just renaming the controller. Link to comment
farkwar Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 That looks like they're just renaming the controller. Really? http://s1078.photobucket.com/user/RichardSperry/media/1image.jpeg.html][/url] That looks like Digital Aquatics branding to you? And thats a renamed RKE? Link to comment
cocojakes Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 So after reading, I still haven't seen much consensus on what people suggest. My main issue is that I want too much functionality for too cheap I think my list of requests is pretty modest, but it seems like no controller can do it without multiple upgrades (extra modules) which ends up in the $800CAD range for me, which is almost as much as my whole tank costs. all I want is: 4 (or at least 3)PWM ports for my LEDs ability to control my RW-4 pumps and my DC return pump auto top off (even just a float sensor, idgaf) dosing (I'm even willing to do my own dosing pumps that just plug into controllable outlets) and obviously temp control it LOOKED like the reef angel was my best bet, only 270, very customizable, but I need 3 PWM ports to use their Jebao pump controls and my LEDs, so add $110 for the extra PWM. I need the wireless module to connect to the internet to make the whole thing even remotely worth while (main benefit of a controller for me is access to the tank when I'm not home) so add another $110. To do my dosing pumps I need the 12v controller, another $90. Who really trusts float switches anymore, $60 for a useful water level sensor. $75 to control my 3 Jebao pumps, and to top it off, I need a stupid $60 specialized USB hub if I want to connect more than one module. after all that, I feel like it might be better just to get an apex Jr for 220, add on an extra PB 8 for 130, pick up the VDM for 100 (and find a cheap 0-10V to PWM chip) and call it a day. plug each of the three Jebao pumps into power ports, gives me On/Off (not sure how well the RW-4s would handle being manually turned on and off every 10s though, the return pump just needs to be powered off during feeding time) another 4 power ports for the dosing pumps, one of which will be the ATO. lastly stick the heater in, which leaves 4 ports for extras when I need them in case you can't tell, I'm getting annoyed with how expensive this all is. I could build a whole new tank for less. Link to comment
Eisernes Posted December 26, 2014 Author Share Posted December 26, 2014 I ended up going with the Apex Jr. For what I want it to do I only need the 4 switched outlets and I got a used one with a PM1 and PH probe for $200. Just have to buy a VDM. RA was going to be significantly more than that. Link to comment
dormreefer Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 On my main tank I currently have a Apex JR however I run a RKL on a different tank and have owned another RKL. I've found my experience with Apex to be much better. I would never go back. I've been using it with a WXM for my pumps/lights and love it. I decided to add a PM1 for the second temp probe so I can match my stored SW and decided to throw in a PH probe while I'm at it. Adding a EB8 also for more ports. The only down side with the JR is AFAIK you can only have 4 modules and power bars count against the limit. Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 in case you can't tell, I'm getting annoyed with how expensive this all is. I could build a whole new tank for less. Unless you can put together your own controller and program it all yourself, you gotta pay to play. Link to comment
cocojakes Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 Unless you can put together your own controller and program it all yourself, you gotta pay to play. I'm an Embedded Systems Engineer, I could easily generate almost all the functionality of these controllers with a cheap arduino and some spare parts. The issue is controllable outlets (not an electrical engineer, not feeling like playing with 120V relays) and I don't feel like writing a whole comprehensive app for this (internet connectivity with micro controllers gets tedious as well, unless just staying on the local network). Its just annoying because I know how cheap all the parts are, and have a tough time justifying this kind of money on $5 printed circuits. Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 I'm an Embedded Systems Engineer, I could easily generate almost all the functionality of these controllers with a cheap arduino and some spare parts. The issue is controllable outlets (not an electrical engineer, not feeling like playing with 120V relays) and I don't feel like writing a whole comprehensive app for this (internet connectivity with micro controllers gets tedious as well, unless just staying on the local network). Its just annoying because I know how cheap all the parts are, and have a tough time justifying this kind of money on $5 printed circuits. I know how much PCB prototyping and such is, and that the components are. If you were to do the same as they've done , would you be able to sell them for even double/triple the actual component cost and still consider it worthwhile, knowing that you will have to spend enormous amounts of time coding and testing each feature, troubleshooting with end-users at no cost, and replacing any faulty units (things happen, that's just the nature of electronics)? Link to comment
cocojakes Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 no I understand the amount of overhead and added costs they have, and of course they have to turn a profit. its just annoying that I'm so close to being able to do it myself for a tenth of the cost, but not able to because dealing with the relays and making my own app would take too much time/effort. Has anyone come up with a cheap way to go from the RJ45 dual 0-10V connection from an APEX, to two PWM signals? I haven't looked into it much, but does anyone know why they're using RJ45 for only 2 pairs of dimming, couldn't they do 4 pairs with that? what are the extra 4 pins used for? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Use an Arduino Nano/Micro/Trinket/etc... All you need is a simple microcontroller with analog inputs. Run the 0-10v signal through a 1:2 voltage divider (to get 5v to the pin) to an analog pin on the Arduino. Then just write some code to translate the 10-bit analog input to an 8-bit pwm output at 5v. If you need to boost it back up to 10v, then you will need a little extra circuitry, but it's not that hard. Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 no I understand the amount of overhead and added costs they have, and of course they have to turn a profit. its just annoying that I'm so close to being able to do it myself for a tenth of the cost, but not able to because dealing with the relays and making my own app would take too much time/effort. Has anyone come up with a cheap way to go from the RJ45 dual 0-10V connection from an APEX, to two PWM signals? I haven't looked into it much, but does anyone know why they're using RJ45 for only 2 pairs of dimming, couldn't they do 4 pairs with that? what are the extra 4 pins used for? http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=21496208#post21496208 Link to comment
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